I will never forget Halo: Combat Evolved. Over the last 25 years, I can’t even quantify how many times I’ve played it, beaten it, done co-op and multiplayer with pals. It is one of the most complete and important experiences for me and my young life. Halo: CE also became the North Star for first-person shooter games for well over a decade, its design still being felt in ripples today. Producing a remake is no small feat, and immediately opens it to skepticism and criticism. When you consider the often flippant remake and remaster era we are in, perhaps doubly so.

I won’t lie, I am one who went into Halo: Campaign Evolved skeptical. How do you remake one of the most perfect games of all time? What does it do that Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary – a game still very widely and easily available – doesn’t? I’ll answer some of these from my perspective, but as with most things, it’s complicated and subjective. For clarity, I will be referring to this new remake as Campaign Evolved, the original game as Halo: CE, and its ten-year remaster as Anniversary from here on out.

Missions Change, Always Do

For Campaign Evolved, everything is the same, except when it’s not. Paradoxically, Campaign Evolved changed very little about the original campaign missions which is good and bad. The familiarity of gameplay and its feel are intact, what many would claim is a non-negotiable aspect of a remake of this caliber. I agree. Feeling the floatiness of Master Chief’s jump, the momentum and speed of vehicles, it’s all nice. It’s natural for a long-time fan like me to settle back into old ways and let muscle memory shed its atrophy. It’s not just pure nostalgia, but a representation of comfort and recognition of just how mechanically sound Halo: CE was and still is.

At no point did I feel lost or have to relearn one of my favorite games. Things just clicked, and pathing and objectives were 95% the same as before. The biggest change by far is one a lot of people will likely enjoy, and that’s a design and progression overhaul to The Library. I’m one of the few sickos out here that actually really like the original mission and its admittedly comparatively archaic design, but I also love boomer shooters. It retains its labyrinthine, multi-story trek for the Index, but it’s less confusing and winding. Perhaps with more objectivity, it’s the better take on the mission. I thought it was fine.

“For a Remake, Campaign Evolved Might Have Played it Too Safe”

Other changes are a lot more subtle, nigh undetectable, maybe a room layout here and there tweaked or the size of one redone. I noticed these very small alterations mostly in levels like The Silent Cartographer, Assault on the Control Room, and The Maw. Speaking of The Maw, probably the next biggest and most noticeable change with Campaign Evolved was the design of the Warthog escape at the very end. I won’t spoil it, but it does things to really help you appreciate the scale of not only the derelict Pillar of Autumn ship itself, but also the drive.

The way in which the story unfolds in cutscenes and quieter gameplay moments is also a bit different. The same beats are hit, but rerecorded voice lines that may give off a different tone, brand new lines that play with the existing tone, or something else like a cutscene extend further than before. This is most obvious with Cortana interactions, particularly in the mid-game from Assault on the Control Room to Two Betrayals. Cortana is a bit more expressive and show personality with Jen Taylor’s redone and expanded performance, but it’s definitely different from the straitlaced military drama of Halo: CE’s original presentation. She also handholds and tutorializes the game much more than in the original. I get it, new players will play this, but it’s a weird side-effect of trying to make your game for everyone. Again, it’s fine – see a pattern yet?

“Some of the Plainer Sci-Fi Mystique of the Original Game is Gone When You Get Too Lost in the Details”

It’s hard to complain when the thing you love and ordered a new version of retains most of the aspects that made you love it in the first place, but therein lies the potential problem. For a remake, Campaign Evolved might have played it too safe. There are a sizable chunk of fans who want to see further expansion, deliberation, progression, and iteration on the thing they loved in order to justify a purchase and its existence. Outside of some key areas we’ll visit next, they’re not there, perhaps speaking to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy. However, this does make me struggle at wholly recommending Campaign Evolved as the definitive way to play without deep caveats.

The Heresy of Vanity

Graphical fidelity is what I consider the elephant in the room. Running on Unreal Engine 5, Campaign Evolved is all gussied up as one would expect a modern remake to be. As someone who does not value high-end graphics and lighting in games, I do appreciate hard work where it exists. This game is prettier, no doubt, but this doesn’t necessarily enhance the experience of playing the campaign for me. I didn’t even really like the Anniversary remastered graphics at the time either.

Some of the plainer sci-fi mystique of the original game is gone when you get too lost in the details. The best example of this is front-and-center on the main menu. Halo’s iconic titular structure shown from space had an unknowable sense of scale to it, eliciting intrigue and a sense of adventure from seeing what appeared to be an Earth-like planet cut and lined into a ring shape with an arcane construct holding it all in place. It makes you excited to start the campaign.

“Thankfully, the Sound Effects Themselves Are Mostly Great”

Campaign Evolved laces it with additional belts, bobs, and lights that give it more texture and clarity, but betray its size and scope which is more valuable here. This feeling carries over into other aspects of the visuals during gameplay, like The Library losing some of its eerie ambience from being brightened a bit too much in areas. I’m all for tasteful updates to games like this, but so often nowadays vibes are toyed with too much in pursuit of favor from the ray-tracing gods. Likewise, it and the mission 343 Guilty Spark enjoy more ambience from seeing the Flood parasite spread in their environments. It’s icky and off-putting in a good way.

Some of the new character models, primarily the faces of Captain Keyes, Cortana, and seeing a face at all for the realest person in Halo history, Foehammer, seem off. It’s almost uncanny at times, and facial animation doesn’t seem to fully match with spoken audio in cutscenes. Whether this is an animation oddity or audio desync, it’s hard to tell. Other plain old graphical glitches happen often as well. Odd texture stuttering, stretched-out and broken Marine models, even the credits show some imperfections as names crawl in from the bottom of the screen. This is all in addition to some performance-related issues like framerate drops especially during cutscenes. I played the game on a very capable mid-to-high-level laptop on medium graphical settings – these sorts of things should not have happened as often as they did.

“You Get Two Other Offerings That Help Round Out the Package and Give Campaign Evolved Some Sauce”

Sound mixing is also quite flawed, arguably more than the graphics. Some Marine chatter blasts your speakers if in close proximity and overly drowns out everything else. Some effects don’t play at all or cut off abruptly mid-play. Thankfully, the sound effects themselves are mostly great, even the Assault Rifle which has never been the same since Halo: CE. I love the bassy hum of shields recharging, the splashiness of plasma rounds, and the threatening hisses and croaks of the Flood.

Music, too, is rock solid, the same spine-tingling, epic, orchestral affair that’s within so many of our minds. I wish it were a bit higher in the audio mix by default. This is especially true on the main menu where it’s practically an afterthought. No extensive remixing like the visuals, just remastered with better fidelity to match modern expectations.

Mission Creep

Now, you’re not just getting a mostly faithful yet flashy remake of Halo: CE here. Along with the remade campaign, you get two other offerings that help round out the package and give Campaign Evolved some sauce. The first is Campaign Remix. It’s not much, but does considerably alter the innards of the campaign to be worthy of a try. Basically, it force activates three special skulls. One alters the enemies you encounter, meaning you can find mighty Hunters or Flood as early as the first mission (good luck!), the next makes it so enemy factions don’t infight which can make the later missions way harder, and the last randomizes placed weapons on each map.

It’s basically a shuffle button for Halo, and it’s fun. Pair this with another special skull like the one that makes the game playable in third-person, and you have a pretty fresh experience. It’s playable in co-op, too, so it’s arguably the best way to link up with a friend and have some fun. If you’re on PC like me, please note that co-op is only online. Baffling when you consider the growing prominence of the “living room PC” setup.

Avery and the Chief

What I consider the marquee moment for Campaign Evolved is its bonus missions. Halo Studios developed three totally new missions that take place around a year before the Halo Event. Coined Operation: Meteorite, it sees Master Chief and Sergeant Major Avery Johnson infiltrating a Covenant ship for valuable data. It’s a great way to show another side to Chief and Johnson’s relationship, allowing them to interact directly and elevate their personalities. We even get some levity from Chief with his quips and remarks. They’re still few and far in between, but unlike much else in the series let alone Halo: CE.

“It Is, By All Accounts, a Brand New Experience For Fans”

These bonus missions capture some of the best aspects of Halo historically. Thematically, they harken back to the pride of duty, sacrifice, heroism, and camaraderie found in Halo: Reach and other games. You meet and rescue a marooned lieutenant named Williams and her squad who are all in awe to be in the presence of a Spartan. Williams is less impressed, coming off cold and skeptical toward Master Chief thanks to the myth (and propaganda) of the Spartan program and, to paraphrase, hogging the glory of the Marines forged in fire as opposed to being born and bred as a supersoldier like Chief.

I’m sure you can guess where the story goes, at least between Williams and Chief, but it’s all done quite well for a mini-campaign. You team up and fight like hell to return home to UNSC territory. Take on the Covenant spearhead in the form of brainwashed and berserked Brutes, meet a prophet of the Covenant, and traverse vast, impressive environments unlike anything found in Halo: CE. You also get access to weapons you don’t get in the base campaign remake like the Covenant Needle Rifle. It is, by all accounts, a brand new experience for fans, and one worthy of your time.

More Questions Than Answers

The biggest problem is that Campaign Evolved doesn’t persuade me that it is the way I need to play the first Halo game from now on. I’m not a joyless hater – it was fun playing through this campaign for the first time in a couple years in this manner – but when evaluating a game and its worthiness of time and money, I must also be honest. When it comes down to it, it has issues that other versions just don’t have in this abundance. While I forgive some lack of polish here and there, this is a remake of one of the biggest, most important games of all time. The total experience is just not indicative of its huge AAA budget or stature. Many changes, though perhaps well-intentioned, do not add to the experience or alter it greatly enough to stand on its own.

“I’m Left Wondering Why the Effort Spent to Make Campaign Evolved Wasn’t Used to Flesh Out a Whole New Halo Game”

Simply put, you don’t have these problems with Halo: CE or Anniversary, the latter very much easily available on PC and Xbox consoles as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. That’s wild, for less money than Campaign Evolved, you get six games, most of them among the best within the first-person shooter genre, a ridiculously robust multiplayer suite, sandbox creator mode with Forge, and so much more. It almost feels irresponsible to hold Campaign Evolved up against something like it. I’ve since come to the conclusion that while the core, enjoyable Halo: CE experience is mostly intact with Campaign Evolved, it’s not for me as a long-time fan who also owns physical copies of Halo: CE, Anniversary, and The Master Chief Collection. At the very least, you’re probably better off playing this one on consoles.

I’m left wondering why the effort spent to make Campaign Evolved wasn’t used to flesh out a whole new Halo game. The developers could have used the Operation: Meteorite missions as a jumping-off point. They clearly shot for something nice and achieved it – it wouldn’t have taken much more than what was used to remake Halo: CE to go in a newer, fresher direction. In fact, it’s what those bonus missions deserved: to be part of something bigger and, hopefully, better. Not to be attached to the hind of a remake that doesn’t meet, let alone outdo, what’s been done before, and pretty recently at that.

Verdict

The worst thing a game remake can do is fail to justify its existence when the original game is still quite accessible and basically flawless even with decades of age on it. That’s kind of how I feel after playing and beating Halo: Campaign Evolved. The timeless feel of the gameplay reigns supreme, but the layers of paint and makeup start slipping when you dive deep enough. With glaringly missing features, it feels like a missed opportunity. It’s effervescent, but fleeting. Kids, please have your elders (sorry) show you Halo as they remember it. I will never forget Halo: Combat Evolved. Unfortunately for Campaign Evolved, I don’t know if I’ll be thinking about it much outside of its bonus missions months from now.

Score: 6/10